Memento Mori
by Felony Kat
Summary: Just who is Dark Kat anyway? An enigma to all, this evil megalomaniac’s background is a mystery…


**Memento Mori **  
By Felony Kat AKA M.E. Bartley  
K+ (Violence)

**Disclaimer:** Dark Kat is from the show SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron and is copyright Hanna-Barbera Inc. Doyle Kincade is an alternate "version" of him of sorts, created by Felony Kat (M. E. Bartley).

**Summary:** Just who is Dark Kat anyway? An enigma to all, this evil megalomaniac's background is a mystery…

**Author's notes:** This is my own theory on the character Dark Kat, and how he came to be the villain everyone loves to hate. The title Memento Mori is Latin meaning "remember that you will die".

There are some fan characters involved, but regardless of them or not, I think this serves as the best explanation for how Dark Kat got to be Dark Kat. Read on to see if you agree.

Oh and also I'd like to give some thanks to Kris Sharpe, Sage SK and Countrykat for helping me with this by beta reading and editing. It is less confusing and better written because of them.

**Megakat****City****: 1918 **

The winter of 1918 was a horrible one for young 12 year old Doyle Kincade. He and his mother had just moved to a small efficiency apartment in the poor section of town. Not that they were once rich, but they did live a wealthier high-class lifestyle with his father being a lawyer. That is his late father. Robert Kincade, like many tom-kats, had been drafted and went to war. It was the war of all wars, including many countries around the world, and thus was called The Mega War. However like many tom-kats, Robert was killed in the war as one of the many casualties.

There was a funeral held in his honor two months after Doyle's mother Emily had gotten the horrible letter all she-kats had dreaded. Robert's body had been sent two months later already laden and sealed in a nice thick casket. He was awarded a medal for bravery as well, but Doyle didn't see the point in awarding a medal to someone who was deceased.

Doyle didn't see the point in many things. In fact the young kit had become very bitter and angry over his father's death, and now over his and his mother's living conditions. He blamed the government of not the enemy countries entirely, but also of his own. He didn't see why countries should go to war over disputes, and Doyle once thought in passing that if he ruled everything, things would be a lot better.

Because of his father's death, his mother couldn't keep up with the bills and had to sell their nice home on the outskirts of Megakat City to move downtown to the working class slums. It was hard for she-kats to get jobs in this time, for they were expected to stay at home and keep house and raise their kittens. The tom-kats were the breadwinners. The money Emily received for the house would help but only for a year or so due to some taxes that her late husband apparently "forgot" to pay. Robert's family was small, and they couldn't send much as they had money troubles of their own. Emily's family was a larger one, and the war hit them as well, leaving them unable to help.

So it was off to the lower class life for them. Emily sought employment but day after day found none. Doyle managed to get a job on with the local newspaper to deliver the morning edition. He learned the neighborhood in a matter of a few days, and rode his bike before school at 6am. He'd then get home and take off for school at 7am after a quick breakfast. This had been his routine for the past three weeks now; one to which along with the bitter cold made Doyle most irritable.

----

"Mother!" Doyle calls out to her after running into the apartment from this morning's paper route. "Mother!"

"Stop shouting, I'm in the kitchen!" his mother calls to him. "Finished with the route?" she asks as Doyle sits down at one of the kitchen chairs.

"Yes mother, is breakfast ready? I'm freezing and hungry!"

Emily chuckles and serves up a bowl of oatmeal for her son. "Yes it is. Here, it's cinnamon oatmeal." She sets a glass of juice on the table.

Doyle puts his hands on either side of the bowl to help warm them up before eating.

"Isn't there a math test today, Doyle?" Emily asks as she sits down at the table with her own bowl of oatmeal.

"Yes, ma'am," Doyle replies between bites as he now eats, feeling his tummy warming up from the hot cereal. "But I'll ace it as usual. I'm so far ahead of the other students in this school. It's so much different than my other one."

Emily smiles a bit. "You were a bit ahead of the students in your other school as well." She knows that Doyle has a bit above average intelligence, as that's what his teachers have always said of him, and his grades prove it. He usually gets A's in everything and sometimes B's when he doesn't try hard enough. She is proud of her son, and hopes he'll be able to follow in his father's footsteps to become a lawyer, or maybe some other well paying profession.

After Doyle finishes breakfast he puts on his coat again, kisses his mother goodbye, grabs his books, and races out the door. Doyle also rides his bike to school, as they only live several blocks away. Though he somewhat enjoys school, Doyle doesn't let the other students know this. He is still the "new kit" in school, and he's learned that the students here weren't as enthusiastic at knowledge as he is.

As he nears the school building, Doyle passes by an alleyway and glances in it to see a couple of young kats in a scuffle. Well it is more like three against one. Doyle parks his bike in front of a nearby store and hurries over to get a look.

"C'mon ya lil' she-kat!" one of the three bullies says to the other smaller kit that they have pinned against the alley's wall. "Gimme yer money!"

"Nay!" The smaller kat says standing his ground.

"Well guess we'll just have to take it eh? C'mere squirt!" The second of the three bullies reaches out and grabs the smaller kat by his coat collar and holds him up off the ground.

"Yeah," the third bully snorts as he laughs. "You know what happens to those who don't pay up Big Billy."

"What, they get a kiss?" Doyle asks with a smirk as he steps into the alley. "Or is that just what his hardest punch feels like?"

All three of the bullies turn around to see who said that. The smaller kat looks as well wide-eyed with surprise that anyone would be that brave, or stupid.

"What did you say?" the first of them asks.

"You heard me." Doyle replies, folding his arms. Looking them each over, Doyle  
notes that he's as big as two of them are, and that he's taller than the third. He is a bit tall for his age, but isn't either skinny or chubby. "I say this Big Billy hits soft. Softer than a girl."

The first bully growls and steps forward to stand directly in front of Doyle. "Who are you?" he asks, punching a fist into his other hand threateningly.

"He-he's just th' new kit, Billy! He dunnae know what he's sayin'!" the smaller kit replies with a bit of a Scottish accent, still being held up in the second bully's grip.

"Ah," Big Billy says with a grin eyeing Doyle. "It's poor little rich boy. I've seen ya around. Didn't realize youse had such a big mout' on ya."

Doyle wipes his cheek off from Billy's spittle. "And I didn't realize you had a speech impediment or a drooling problem."

"Why you little twerp!" Billy growls and throws a punch towards Doyle. Doyle dodges it and throws one of his own into Billy's gut, causing Billy to double over. Doyle shoves the kat over into the snow and stands over him.

"That all you got 'Big' Billy?" Doyle asks, and then gives a swift kick to the fallen kat's stomach.

"Hey!" the third of the bullies shouts and runs over to try and knock Doyle down. Doyle counters by stepping aside and sticking his foot out which the bully promptly trips over, falling on top of Billy.

Doyle kicks him in the side and gives another kick for Billy as well. "You guys are weak," he says then looks over to the second. "Let him go."

The second bully drops the smaller kit and hurries off out of the alley.

After Doyle kicks the other two again he growls at them to move it, to which they do as quick as they can. Doyle goes to help the smaller kat up. "You alright?"

"A-aye, thanks a lot!" the smaller kat says as he adjusts himself. "Where'd ye learn ta fight like that?

"Something my father taught me," Doyle replies and turns to exit the alley.

"Hey wait up!" the smaller kat yells and follows him. "Name's Kyle. Kyle McFurlane." He holds out his hand to shake Doyle's.

Doyle quirks a brow but shakes Kyle's hand in return. "Doyle Kincade," he says.

"Aye, I know. I've 'eard about ye," Kyle replies.

Doyle takes up his bike and walks along with Kyle towards their school. "So, they do that to you every morning?"

"Nay, just when they catch me before school starts. There's plenty of other kats ta be pickin' on for money," Kyle says walking alongside Doyle. "But I'm supposin' I won't haveta worry about them anymore."

"Oh? Why is that? Because I scared them off?"

"Nay, because ye are gonnae be their new target. Ya made an enemy of th' wrong kat, Doyle. No one's ever beaten up that Big Billy."

"Peh, I'm not afraid of him. Nor should anyone else be."

"It's not just him. He's got th' biggest gang around, he does! And he'll be sendin' them all after ye."

"Well let them come. I'm up for a challenge," Doyle simply says as he secures his bike to a rack with several others and goes into the school with Kyle.

Inside the school, Doyle and Kyle are both greeted by stares from most the other students. Most of the school apparently had heard of this fight between the new kit and Big Billy. Many whisper as they go by, others just look worried or happy.

"Doyle! Doyle Kincade!" came a voice from somewhere behind Doyle and Kyle. They both turn and see a girl wearing a pink skirt and sweater hurry towards them.

"Doyle!" She hollers waving at them as she approaches. "Are you Doyle?"

"Yes," Doyle answers looking at her curiously.

The girl shoves Kyle out of the way and grabs Doyle's hand and shakes it roughly with both of hers. "I can't believe it! YOU beat up Big Billy! I'm in your debt, the whole SCHOOL is in your debt!"

Kyle frowned as he was shoved and adjusts his glasses. "Bah, quit bein' so dramatic, Suzie. Doyle's gonnae be late for class!"

Suzie ignores Kyle and continues to smile at Doyle. "I'm Suzie, Suzie Katterson, and I'm pleased as punch to meet you!"

Doyle pulls his hand from hers and blinks. "Uh… sure…," he says to her nicely, and then looks at Kyle.

Kyle pulls at Doyle's arm and begins to tug him off to class.

**Megakat****City**** 1924 **

Sure enough as Kyle stated, Big Billy and several other kats began to go after Doyle. Amazingly, Doyle was able to handle himself with them. Eventually, they decided it was best to leave Doyle alone, as well as most of the other students. Doyle's bravery slowly influenced the rest of the school as the rest of the students were sticking up for themselves as well. The threat of Big Billy and his crew ended.

Time passed, and Kyle and Doyle had become the best of friends. They graduated grade school and went on to high school. The pair were seen everywhere together, and had a few others with them from their neighborhood. Suzie was one of the more popular girls in school and helped Doyle become acquainted with everyone in grade school. Now Doyle was quite the popular kat on his own, though Kyle and Suzie were his favorite friends to hang around with.

Doyle achieved high honors in school, and soon he quit his paper route job to find more profitable work elsewhere to help out his mother. After all, he was sixteen years old now, and a paper route was too childish for his tastes. His mother Emily had two jobs; she worked as a maid at a local hotel five days a week while Doyle went to school, and on weekends she sang at a local club. It was nothing fancy, but she enjoyed it, and it brought in a nice amount.

Late one evening when Doyle was coming home from a job search, he heard a few shots fired a few blocks down. The neighborhood had gotten a bit rougher over the years, as one of the mobs saw it as part of its territory. Knowing full well that he should stay out of it, Doyle went on anyway to the source of the shooting. Quietly he made his way to an alley, where a couple of tom-kats were running off.

Doyle creeps into the alley where he sees a kat in a suit lying on the ground.

Looking around to make sure the pair had gone he kneels down to examine the kat.

"H-help me…" the kat says weakly, clutching the right side of his chest where a bullet had entered and stained his suit and hand.

"Hold on, mister," Doyle replies, helping the kat up.

"P-Purrino's…," the wounded kat says then points to a restaurant on the corner nearby. Doyle nods and slowly helps the tom to the restaurant. "The… back…. Take me to the back," the tom says, to which Doyle obliges.

"Hey!" Doyle shouts as he enters the back of the restaurant. "This guy needs help! Someone help me!"

A chef hurries over and gasps seeing them. "Antonio! Here, quickly, lay him down here. I'll get the medics here!" The chubby chef disappears to call for a doctor.  
Doyle lays Antonio down on the floor. Grabbing up a few aprons, he uses them to cushion Antonio's head. "Here… Let me help cover this up to keep you from bleeding to death," Doyle states as he moves Antonio's jacket and shirt aside gently. Doyle then makes a makeshift bandage to keep Antonio from bleeding more.

Soon a doctor enters, followed by three more kats in suits and fedoras.

"Stand aside, boy," the doctor orders Doyle and kneels down. He examines Antonio carefully, then looks at the gunshot wound. Two other medics enter from the back.

"We got the ambulance outside," one of the medics says, and with the doctor's help, heft Antonio into the back of the ambulance.

"Is he gonna be all right?" asks one of the kats in the suits.

"He'll be just fine," the doctor replies. "Be glad this young boy helped him in here in time. I'll call you from the hospital when I get him stabilized."

"Thanks, doc," the kat replies and watches the ambulance drive away. He then turns to look at Doyle. "Thanks for the help. What's yer name?"

"Doyle," Doyle replies as he stands up, wiping his hands off with a handkerchief.  
"Doyle Kincade."

The kat grins and walks to Doyle. Putting an arm around him he says, "We're grateful for what you did back there. I'd like to repay ya."

"It's not necessary, sir," Doyle answers.

"Nonsense!" the kat replies. "Listen, take some time to think about it." The kat pulls out a card, and hands it to Doyle. "You give me a call and I'll see to it that you get a reward for this. Name's Katz." He then lets go of Doyle and walks off with the other two.

Doyle peers at the card oddly, and then returns home to wash up and inform his mother about this.

"I don't care, Doyle, I don't want you getting mixed up with those kats!" Emily says to Doyle harshly after hearing his story.

"Look, the guy just wanted to pay me for helping that kat. I just wanted to see what you thought I should ask for," Doyle replies annoyed.

"Listen," Emily says, putting a hand on Doyle's shoulder. "I'm proud of you for helping to save another kat's life but those type of kats are dangerous." She looks up at her son with worry.

"I can handle it, mother," Doyle states, and turns from her. "I'm sixteen years old. We need some money to help us out. I'm going to talk with Mr. Katz."

Emily frowns and heads to her bedroom. "Fine. I see you're as stubborn as your father was. I won't try and stop you, simply because I know I can't." She growls at him and shuts the door behind herself angrily.

Doyle huffs. "It's just collecting a reward, that's all," he thinks to himself.

The next evening, Doyle sat at Purrino's restaurant with Kyle, waiting for Mr. Katz who said he'd meet him there to give him his payment. Most of his friends didn't think it was a good idea either, especially Suzie. Kyle however insisted that he come along with Doyle as backup should something happen. He had his doubts as well, but always supported his best friend.

At 9:00 as promised, Mr. Katz along with the same two kats from the night before entered the restaurant.

"Ah, Doyle, nice to see you again," Mr. Katz says. "And I see you brought a friend."  
Doyle and Kyle stand up to greet the kats and shake their hands. "Yeah, this is Kyle."

"Well then, lets get started. Haven't you ordered anything yet?" Mr. Katz asks the pair as he leads them to a larger table at a booth.

"Uh well… no, we-" Doyle begins to say but is interrupted by Mr. Katz.

"Ah of course not, since I suppose you were waitin' for us. Mario is the best pasta chef around! You should try his cooking."

"Maybe some other time, we've-" Doyle begins to say, but again is cut off.

"Mario!" Mr. Katz shouts happily as the chef comes out of the kitchen to greet them.

"Bring us some fine milk and five orders of your delicious linguini."

"And don't forget the garlic bread," one of the other suited kats adds.

"Right away, Mr. Katz." Mario says, smiling at Doyle and Kyle. He hurries off to get their order.

Doyle sighs and looks at Kyle. Kyle shrugs, as if to say they better eat the meal.

Mr. Katz looks the two young toms over a moment. After Mario had brought the bottle of milk, he pours himself some. "Well Doyle, I know what you're here for, and I have yer payment. Go on try some of this milk."

"Er, no thanks Mr. Katz I-" Doyle starts to say.

Mr. Katz interrupts with a laugh. "Go on, go on!" He chuckles and hands the bottle over to Doyle.

Doyle takes it and pours himself and Kyle a glass.

"Now, I also have an offer for ya, and I'm hoping you'll take it," Mr. Katz says looking more serious. The other two kats in suits look at Doyle and Kyle.

"An offer?" Doyle asks. Kyle shifts in his seat then takes a sip of the milk.

"That's right. My boss Mick Mercedes was impressed, and Antonio is doing well thanks to you," Mr. Katz replies.

Mario brings them their bread and pasta then quickly leaves.

"Go on, go on! Try the linguini!" Mr. Katz says to Doyle and Kyle then continues after taking a bite himself. "My boss, he wants ta hire you to run some errands for him."

"Errands? What kind of errands?" Doyle asks, taking a bite of the pasta. Kyle eats quietly, listening.

"Just delivering a package or two, nothing major. And he'll pay you good too."

"Well, that's nice of him, but I'm not sure if I can do that, sir," Doyle says politely.

"Why not? If you have another job, then quit. My boss will pay you double whatever salary you're being offered, possibly more if you do a good job for him."

Doyle takes a drink of the milk then looks over at Kyle. "I'll… have to think about it," he says looking back at Mr. Katz.

Mr. Katz laughs again. "Ah, you need to talk it over with your friend, eh?" He smirks at Kyle. "If your friend wants a job, my boss can find one for him too."

Kyle gulps down a bite of the linguini. "Eh heh… that's not necessary, sir. I dunnae need a job…"

Mr. Katz chuckles. "Well then think it over. But I want to know something by tomorrow night."

Doyle nods and eats more of the pasta. Mr. Katz pulls out an envelope from his jacket pocket, and slides it to Doyle. "Here. Take this at least." He grins at Doyle.

Doyle takes up the envelope and opens it. It's filled with money, more than the amount Doyle requested. Kyle leans over to take a look at it as well, and his eyes widen as he's never seen such an amount before.

Mr. Katz and the other two kats in the suits stand, having finished most of the meal. "By tomorrow, Doyle," he says smiling.

"Thanks… and sure thing." Doyle replies, quickly stuffing the envelope in his pocket.

Mr. Katz and the other two exit the restaurant, after paying Mario for all five of their meals, leaving Kyle and Doyle to finish.

"So… what are ye gonnae do, Doyle?" Kyle asks him after they leave.

Doyle sighs and then after a moment replies. "I think I'll take the job. At least for a little while until I can find another one."

"Is that wise? Ya know these guys are part of the mob," Kyle says quietly to Doyle.

"Yeah, I know," Doyle simply replies, and then continues to eat his pasta and drink his milk silently.

----

A few days later, Doyle stood on the corner of Katalina and Main where he was told to wait for the drop off, despite his mother's wishes, against Suzie's wishes as well. Suzie and Doyle had started dating a few weeks prior to this but unlike Kyle, Doyle didn't tell her everything that went on in his life. This evening would be Doyle's first for delivering something. Simple one at that, as he is to take a package which one of Mr. Katz' men would give him shortly to a warehouse down town. Kyle was with him again this night, worried for his friend.

"Why don't you just work tonight and that's it, Doyle?" Kyle asks his friend again.

"Why don't you just go home if you're so worried, Kyle," Doyle snaps and looks at Kyle annoyed. "This is going to help mother and I out greatly. She can quit one of her jobs and enjoy the finer things in life like she used to before father died."

"I know, but is it worth your life?"

"I can handle myself, Kyle. You know that. Besides, I'm just running errands, delivering packages, small stuff that isn't dangerous at all."

Kyle just sighs and looks at Doyle. "Well than I'm not gonnae leave until this one is delivered."

"Suit yourself," Doyle replies with a chuckle.

Just then a car pulls up beside the two young toms. The window rolls down and a kat motions for Doyle to go over to him. "You Katz' guy?"

Doyle nods. "Yes sir, I am."

The kat inside the car hands Doyle a package. It's a box that isn't too large wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. "You know where to take it, don'tcha kid?"

"Yes sir," Doyle replies.

The kat rolls up his window and the car drives off in a hurry. Doyle and Kyle both look at the package.

"Well, if you're coming with me, let's go," Doyle says to Kyle. Both toms get into Kyle's car which his dad let him borrow thinking Kyle and Doyle were just going to the library to study late. Kyle drives Doyle to said warehouse.

Doyle's first delivery went well. He and Kyle dropped off the package to the specified warehouse and were paid for the good job and swiftness. Doyle had success in all his errands no matter what they were. There were only one or two close calls with the cops, to which Doyle evaded with ease. Kyle had stayed on to help Doyle out, and eventually Doyle talked Kyle into staying along and working for the mob.

Doyle had told his mother he was working for a wealthy kat making deliveries, but didn't say who for or what they were. She'd disapprove of him bringing in "dirty money" for his work, seeing as how he was aiding in the spread of katnip and other drugs as well as black market weaponry and goods.

Despite his insistence, Emily didn't quit either of her jobs. Emily knew very well where his money was coming from, but wanted him to tell her. She hoped this was just temporary, and that when Doyle graduated high school, he'd get a more legitimate job.

Suzie on the other hand wasn't pleased with Doyle's new work. She suspected him of doing runs for some criminal organization but was patient, waiting to see if Doyle would quit.

Months went by and there were no signs of Doyle quitting. Suzie had had enough and confronted him.

The two were eating out at a diner near Suzy's place. She was quiet, letting Doyle go on about some event or another, when finally she spoke.

"Why are you lying to me?" Suzie blurts out, interrupting Doyle's story.

Doyle looks at her puzzled. "What are you talking about, Suzie?"

"Don't play dumb, Doyle! I know you're not on the up and up, you with your breaking our dates and buying nice suits and wearing a fedora like some mobster." Suzie folds her arms across her chest and glares at Doyle.

Doyle frowns. "Could you be a little more quiet, please?" he says to her gruffly.

"No! I won't be more quiet until you admit it, admit you're in with the mob!"

"So what if I am?" he hisses at her, glancing to see a couple patrons look in their direction a short moment. "What do you care?"

"I care because I don't want you killed," she replies. "Nor do I want you to start killing others. Doyle, you could get in a lot of trouble for helping hoods like them out."

"I won't be killed nor caught, you worry too much."

"So it's true then. You should have told me."

"This is why I didn't, Suzie! Because I didn't want to hear you nagging at me about it," Doyle huffs.

"Nagging? Look, I'm just worried that's all, you need to get out of this while you can and find a decent job instead of bringing in that dirty money."

"Funny, you didn't seem to complain about my dirty money when I bought you that sweetheart ring."

Suzie scowls at him. "Quit, Doyle. Quit the mob now or we're through!"

"What?" Doyle glares, a growl rising in his throat.

"You heard me," she replies and stands up. Pulling off a small heart shaped ring, Suzie holds it in her hands. "I won't get involved with some two-bit thug."

"Then don't get involved with this 'two-bit thug'. If you can't support my decision, one that will bring us more wealth in a year than yer old man makes in his lifetime, then I don't want you on my arm," Doyle looks her in the eyes, daring her.

Suzie throws the ring at him. "Good BYE, Doyle! I'll be sure to send flowers for your funeral!" She turns and exits the diner quickly, wiping at her eyes as tears begin to escape from them.

Doyle slams his fist on the table, knocking over a couple of glasses to the floor. "What are YOU looking at?!" he snarls at the patrons who were watching the exchange between he and Suzie. Standing now, Doyle grabs up his empty plate and throws it across the room, barely missing an old tom's head, shattering onto the wall next to him. He then storms out of the diner.

Emily had been dating a Mr. Nathan Pawliger for a little over six months. Pawliger was an accountant, or so he said, and soon he and Emily were engaged. They married in late December of 1924. That was when she finally quit working, not one, but both of her jobs for Nathan brought in good enough money to the household that allowed Emily to stay at home.

Doyle didn't like his new stepfather. It wasn't because he thought Nathan was replacing his father or that his mother loved Doyle's father any less. It was just the way that Nathan behaved which made Doyle wary of the tom. Nathan was always giving Emily gifts, expensive ones that even an accountant couldn't easily afford. Nathan also worked late many a night, sometimes arriving after Doyle had returned home past 11 o'clock at night. It was the same way with Doyle almost which made Doyle wonder if Nathan was in with a mob as well.

Since Doyle began working for Katz and Antonio, he'd moved up from a simple errand boy.

Now Doyle was in charge of a small group of toms that were to do various things from picking up and delivering packages as he had to harassing certain businesskats to pay protection money to his mob. Kyle wasn't fond of these new duties as he himself worked with Doyle. Doyle however continued to work on like this as he was getting aspirations to become one of the top kats like Mr. Katz who worked under the head of the mob, Mick Mercedes.

Doyle reluctantly moved out on his own the next year in 1925 as it was time for him to be on his own seeing as he'd been a graduate for a year now. Much to the dismay of his mother, Doyle continued his career with the mob. However she herself learned that her own husband was also in with the mob… unfortunately against Mick and his crew. Against her son. She kept pleading to Nathan to get out of the mob life which only angered him. Nathan even went so far as to hit Emily at times and berate her into keeping quiet.

**  
****Megakat****City****: 1927 **

One evening Nathan went too far. Doyle had come by his mother and stepfather's house one evening just before ten. He'd gotten his mother a gold charm bracelet for her birthday for he remembered she had mentioned long ago she'd always wanted one since she was a little girl. It was her birthday the next day but he wanted to surprise her a bit early.

Upon arriving, Doyle sees two shadows against the drawn window shade in the front room. They belong to his mother and Nathan. They are fighting again, shouting at one another. Doyle had been waiting for a chance to catch Nathan at harassing his mother and rushes to the house. As he bursts into the house, Doyle is just in time to see Nathan pull out his gun and shoot Emily. She screams and falls to the floor.

Doyle is angry… more than angry as Nathan turns to Doyle and simply smirks at him saying,

"Told her to shut her yap but she never listens to me." Nathan aims his gun now at Doyle.

Doyle rushes Nathan with a snarl managing to slam him against the wall knocking the gun loose from Nathan's hand. The two kats struggle with one another until Doyle uses his own gun on Nathan and kills him instantly.

"Now you'll never lay a hand on her again!" Doyle shouts and kicks Nathan's still body.

Emily groans a little and Doyle quickly goes to her. "Mother? Mother hang in there, I'm going to call for help."

"Doyle…" Emily says quietly to her son. "Doyle… please… please leave the mob you're in."

"What? Mother hush now, don't talk, save your strength," Doyle reaches for the phone that had fallen on the floor.

Tears run down Emily's cheeks as she struggles to talk. "Son please… I don't want you to die a criminal… die with honor like your father." Doyle pauses to look at her. "Remember… I'll always love you, no matter what… what you do." With that, Emily shuts her eyes and slumps over on the floor.

Doyle throws the phone down and picks her up in his arms onto his lap. "Mother? Mother! Please wake up… don't leave me! Don't leave me like father did!" He holds his mother close to him, sobbing like a kitten and pleading with her to wake up to no avail.

The next few days after his mother's death, Doyle was on a rampage. He told Mick of his mother's death and who was responsible. Mick recognized Nathan as being from one of their rivals. Mick used the young tom's thirst for vengeance and allowed Doyle to lead a group of his kats to find and kill many of the rival mob's guys. It was a war, one which Doyle was determined to win.

He knew it wouldn't bring back his mother. Kyle was worried for his friend, saying that killing his mother's killer should be justice enough. That didn't satisfy Doyle, however. There was a fury inside him now that never fully was quelled. Mick was impressed with Doyle over the month of terror he helped bring as the rival mob was devastated enough to leave Megakat City altogether to avoid Mick's.

Doyle would get his wish for promotion within the mob as Mick kept him on as one of his trusted bodyguards.

**Megakat****City****: 1933 **

Mick Mercedes had passed away in the summer of 1933 and on his deathbed declared Doyle would be his successor. The rest of his mob was unsure of the decision seeing as Doyle was only 27 years old, a bit young for one to run a criminal organization. However despite the fact Doyle was younger, the mob knew Mick knew what he was doing. Doyle was well liked among the mob as well as respected. He'd proven over the years to be more than a bodyguard to Mick as Doyle even gave Mick some good ideas that worked out. So Doyle took the reigns and kept the mob going strong.

A good portion of downtown Megakat City belonged to Doyle's mob and he made sure he was going to expand his reach. Kyle was still with him and Doyle considered him to be his only true friend.

Since the death of Doyle's mother, he had hardened. His lust for power grew and he had big plans on making it into the political scene. Doyle no longer cared for the common worker kat's welfare as he did once before though he made sure to take care of his own. Most of Doyle's school chums had abandoned him though, left him and hated him for what he'd become. Kyle stayed because he worried for Doyle and made a promise over the years to keep him safe. Doyle had helped Kyle's family over the years and saved his life more than once. Kyle felt he owed it to Doyle to do the same.

Not everyone accepted Doyle as the new boss. A few of Mick's closest friends were waiting in line to become head of the organization and Doyle's promotion was not just a shock but was hurtful. They felt betrayed by Mick. How could he choose Doyle over them when a couple of them even knew Mick since they were in school?

Mr. Katz had managed to become, or so he thought, Mick's second in command, the one who would take over for Mick when he died. He felt especially betrayed as he was the one who had gotten Doyle in with the mob to begin with years ago for saving the now dearly departed Antonio. A handful of others were pressuring Katz to do something about Doyle, but he wanted to talk with Doyle first before making any moves and bid his time.

**Megakat****City****: 1934 **

It was a cold evening that December on New Year's Eve and Doyle was throwing one grand event to usher in the new year. Most of the kats in the mob were there at one of Megakat's fancier hotels Doyle had rented for a nice sum (along with a fee to the manager to keep the event hush hush from the law).

Doyle himself found that he couldn't celebrate for long and retreated to one of the hotel's suites. His thoughts were mostly filled with visions of him running the growing city that is Megakat. Standing at the window looking out, Doyle was startled out of his thoughts with a knock at the door.

"Come in," Doyle says and takes a sip of champagne.

Katz enters the room, and shuts the door behind him. "What are you doing in here alone, Kincade?" Katz asks.

Doyle turns to face him. "Just waiting for the new year to begin is all. You need something?"

Katz takes a seat. "I was wanting to discuss something with ya, Kincade."

Doyle moves away from the window and sits down near Katz. "What about?"

"It's… it's about the leadership of this mob since Mick's been gone."

Doyle frowns. "You got a problem then get to it already. This is supposed to be a time of celebration. Besides," Doyle sips more of his champagne, "last I heard everyone's been more than happy with how I run things."

"Oh they are, they are just… well me and some of the guys think maybe I should take over for you for awhile. Give you a bit of a break. You've done a swell job this past year 'n all but I've got more experience and-" Before Katz could finish Doyle stands and looks down at him.

"You?" Doyle laughs. "You're old, Katz. Out of date with the times and how things run.  
Mick left me in charge, so either deal with it or leave."

"Hey!" Katz stands now too to face the taller tom. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even be in this mob! I got you where you are. You owe me, boy."

Doyle sets his glass down on a nearby table calmly. "You calling me a boy, Katz? Think I'm a kitten?"

"Yeah, I am and I do."

Doyle pulls out a gun and aims it at Katz, pressing the barrel end to Katz' chest. "I do owe you for getting me in this organization. So I'm going to repay that debt by letting you walk out of here alive and forgetting you ever brought this up to me. You understand?"

Katz glares at Doyle now. "Don't be stupid, Kincade. Put that away."

"I'm not stupid. I know exactly what I'm doing. I've got plans besides running this criminal organization, Katz. Someday you'll be seeing me as mayor of Megakat City. Maybe I'll let you run this mob then, but not now."

Katz snorts at that when someone knocks on the door. Kyle enters the room.

"Hey Doyle, the countdown's gonnae start in a few minutes, we're all waiting for-" Kyle stops suddenly as he takes note of the situation. "Doyle…? What's goin' on here?"

"Nothing, Kyle. Katz and I just had a little talk, isn't that right, Katz?" He jabs the gun harder against Katz' chest.

"Yeah… a little talk, Kincade." Katz backs up and goes to the door. "See ya 'round." He exits going past Kyle into the hall then exits the hotel entirely.

Kyle shuts the door after Katz leaves. He looks at his friend curiously. Doyle holsters his gun and takes up his glass once again.

"Go on downstairs, Kyle. I'll be down in a minute," Doyle says calmly as if nothing had happened.

"You alright?" Kyle asks quietly, worried about his friend.

"I'm perfectly fine."

"Okay than… I'll see ya downstairs." Kyle exits the room, leaving Doyle alone.

At the first meeting of the new year, Katz doesn't show up. Doyle realizes he's quit and is a bit uneasy at who remains. After all, Katz mentioned others felt as he had concerning Doyle's leadership. It continues like this, the others plotting behind Doyle's back and talk of what happened and what was said goes around the organization.  
One evening in February 1935, Doyle and Kyle with a few bodyguards go to dine at Purrino's. Valentine's Day is around the corner and Kyle excitedly tells Doyle how he plans on proposing to his girlfriend.

"So, what do ya think? A ring around one of th' dozen roses sound romantic, Doyle?" Kyle asks and takes a sip of his drink.

"Sounds fine to me, if you're sure about this, Kyle," Doyle replies with a sneer.

Kyle sighs. He's been happily in love with a pretty tabby she-kat that works at one of the clubs Doyle's mob owns. The two have been courting for nearly a year now and have a good relationship. Doyle on the other hand moves from she-kat to she-kat on a weekly basis. Monthly if he finds a she-kat interesting in some way or another.

Doyle's never been truly in love, save for when he and Suzie courted back in high school and hasn't had a serious or steady girlfriend since. He thought Suzie was being unfair and that she didn't understand him. If she couldn't accept him and his profession, then she wasn't worth his time. Ever since then he's only been with a she-kat out of boredom or some other reason, never for love. He doesn't have the desire to get hurt again and lets what happened between himself and Suzie dictate on how to be with other she-kats.

"Ye could at least try tae sound somewhat happy for me, Doyle," Kyle states frowning at his friend. "Just because you think marriage is a burden dunnae mean it is so for everyone."

"Sorry Kyle. I-" Doyle stops mid-sentence and glances out the window, ears perked.

"What is it?" Kyle asks curiously while twirling some spaghetti around his fork. The few other kats with them look out the window after Doyle does.

The sound of squealing tires is heard outside as a black car pulls around the corner. The windows are down and two kats lean out of the windows with Tommy guns aimed at the restaurant.

"Kyle get down!" Doyle shouts and both he and Kyle duck down in the nick of time as bullets are fired shattering the window glass and riddling everything inside. The car drives down the street, and the squealing of tires is heard again as it makes a U turn to head back.

"Doyle! Are ye alright?" Kyle yelps crawling out from under the table and keeping low to the ground.

"Yeah," Doyle answers, pulling out two pistols. "You?"

"Aye, but they're comin' back! Looked like Leo's boys!" Kyle replies pulling out a pistol as well.

Doyle growls at that. Leo is the head of the rival organization that Doyle's stepfather Nathan was with. Leo and his mob had slowly grown again over the past several years. Seeing as their numbers had risen and they gained success, they returned to Megakat City a year or so ago. "I'd like to know how they knew we were here."

Doyle and Kyle along with a couple of their bodyguards who weren't shot get up and rush outside to face these guys behind some parked cars. When the car races towards them all four fire in their direction. A couple of the kats are hit and the driver wildly drives towards Doyle and the others trying to ram into them. They scatter out of the way as the car slams into one of the parked ones. Soon two more arrive, and bullets fly down the street.

"Crud!" Doyle shouts with anger as the rest of his men save for Kyle are hit. "Kyle! Let's get outta here, now!"

Kyle and Doyle rush to an alleyway and make their way down the street towards one of their hideouts. They reach one of the warehouses that Doyle uses for katnip storage but the outside door is locked. Doyle pounds on it hoping someone's inside. Sure enough the door opens, but it is Katz who is on the other side.

"Having a bit of a problem, boys?" Katz asks with a wicked grin.

"Katz," Doyle and Kyle both say with a growl.

"You're the one behind this drive by, aren't ye, ya pathetic coward!" Kyle shouts at Katz, ready to fire. Two thugs arrive behind Doyle and Kyle, pressing the ends of their gun barrels to the two tom's backs.

"Drop your weapons. Now." Katz says chuckling. Doyle and Kyle comply and let their guns go clattering to the ground. Katz and some others who were with him go outside. The two thugs shove Doyle and Kyle towards the alleyway. "Ya shouldn't have crossed me, Kincade. I'm the one who's gonna be runnin' this mob from now on, just like I should've been since Mick's death."

"Mick left Doyle in charge Katz and ye know it!" Kyle exclaims glaring at Katz.

Katz motions to one of the thugs behind Kyle. The thug lowers his gun and slugs Kyle upside the back of his head with it, causing Kyle to yelp in pain and kneel down on the ground. The thug resumes aiming his gun at Kyle once again.

Doyle hisses at Katz. "Why you little-"

"Ah ah ah, Doyle." Katz says with a tsk tsk tsk motion of his finger. "You'll both speak to me with respect."

Doyle glowers. Kyle rubs the back of his head as he tries to stay conscious. Doyle can see blood on Kyle's hand between his fingers and now on the collar of Kyle's shirt.

"You going to kill us now? You and the other traitors?" Doyle asks looking once again at Katz.

"How perceptive of ya, Kincade." Katz replies. "But I'm not the one who's going finish you guys off. Got someone here who's been itchin' to get to ya for years now." Leo steps out into the dim streetlights of the alley where the others are with his crew behind him.

"Nice to see you again," Leo says as he pulls out his gun and aims at Doyle.

"Ye bloody traitors!" Kyle shouts and leaps up in front of Doyle as Leo fires. The two kats land on the ground, Kyle on top of Doyle.

"Kyle!" Doyle shouts as the others all laugh. "Kyle… no…" Doyle slowly rolls Kyle off himself and with horror sees that his last remaining friend has been fatally wounded. Doyle holds Kyle close as he seethes with hatred.

"Maybe now you'll think twice before disrespecting yer elders, boy," Katz says with a laugh.

"Kyle's right…" Doyle says through gritted teeth. "You ARE a traitor! Mick would never have approved of this! Leo and his gang are our enemies, Katz! You know what they did to my mother! They deserved what they got!" Doyle notes a lump under Kyle's suit jacket as he holds him. Recognizing it as Kyle's other gun, Doyle slowly reaches to grab a hold of it.

"I ain't responsible for what that low life did to yer ma, kid," Leo replies his gun still aimed at Doyle with one hand. He takes a draw off of a cigar he'd been smoking with the other.

"But you are for what you've done to Kyle…" Doyle says raising the gun under the back of Kyle's jacket to point at Leo. He fires at Leo through Kyle's jacket, and then standing up, he lets go of Kyle and fires a shot towards a stunned Katz. The others all open fire on Doyle as he tries to make a run for it as fast as he can. Doyle fires behind him haphazardly as he goes down an alleyway.

The others give chase. Doyle doesn't get very far as he's outnumbered and outgunned. The tom falls to the ground landing on his stomach. A wounded Katz walks over and kicks at Doyle's body thinking him dead. "C'mon boys. Let's let the sanitation department take out this trash in the mornin'." Katz and the others leave Doyle where he lies to help move the now deceased Leo.

Doyle lays there going in and out of consciousness. "No… this can't end like this…" he says quietly, clenching his fists feeling pain surging through his body. "I'd give anything to see them all destroyed for this…"

"Anything?" a female voice asks from somewhere nearby. Doyle looks up to see who it is that spoke.

"Who's there?" Doyle asks and coughs some.

"I asked you a question first, dearie," the voice replies and what appears to be a she-kat with bat like wings and a pointed devil's tail appears before him from out of no where.

Doyle gasps at that thinking he's seeing things.

"What… what question…?" Doyle asks her.

The she-kat grins and kneels down to him. "Will you truly give anything to see those who've betrayed you destroyed?"

"Yes," he replies to her without hesitation.

"I'll need you to sign on the dotted line then, dearie," the strange she-kat says with a malicious grin. Her pupil-less eyes glow like flames as a contract appears in her hand.

Doyle coughs and asks, "Sign…?"

"You give me your soul and vow to serve me forever and I shall aid you in your revenge," the she-kat answers. "Quickly now, dearie. You're about to expire."

"I… don't understand… " Doyle says confused, his vision beginning to blur.

"It will be explained to you shortly," states the strange she-kat.

A pen appears before Doyle which he slowly takes and barely signs his name on the contract.

"That's a good mortal," the she-kat says and then cackles. She stands, the contract vanishes, and her appearance becomes more hideous. Her face is more twisted and horns have grown on her head. With large sharp, yellowed fangs, she laughs at Doyle as she reaches out towards him, taking one of his hands in her clawed one and the two vanish.

Later that evening, Katz and his men are all at the main hideout in Doyle's office. Katz is happy despite getting hit in the shoulder by Doyle hours before. After a trip to the hospital, he and the rest of the higher ups in the mob celebrate over glasses of champagne.

"So now what, Katz? You think Leo's guys are gonna come after us for his death?" One of the thugs asks.

Katz grins leaning back in his chair, feet propped up on the desk. "His guys know it was Kincade that killed him. They won't be comin' after us. Besides," he lights a cigar, takes a long puff and exhales, "Me and Leo had a deal going to merge our two organizations together." The others look at Katz with surprise. A few of them frown.

"Merge?" Another of the older gangsters asks. "With them? Have you forgotten what trouble they've brought us? Sure gettin' rid of Kincade was fine but workin' with them onna full time basis is…"

"Is what?" Katz asks annoyed.

"Is an insult to Mick Mercedes," a new voice says from somewhere in the room. Its owner is unseen.

"What?" Katz glares at the tom that was speaking.

"I didn't say that!" the tom exclaims. Everyone in the room glances around nervously. Some pull out their weapons.

Suddenly a large tall purple furred tom-kat with a skull like head appears in the room out of a cloud of smoke and burst of purple flame. Everyone gasps and aims their guns at him.

The purple kat's jagged maw grins at them, his pupil-less eyes glow bright like orange flames. The two large bat like wings on his back fold close to his body.

"I said it." The purple kat says to them all as he raises a hand up and a ball of purple fire appears in it.

Katz stands quickly. "Who or… w-what are you?!"

"I am your death," the kat replies and throws the fireball at one of the kats in the room.

The kat is hit and suddenly vanishes with a yowl. Only a pile of ash remains on the floor where he stood. The other kats in the room either open fire or flee for their lives as the purple kat viciously takes them out one by one. Soon only Katz remains, huddled underneath his desk in fear.

The purple kat walks over and kneels down to look at Katz. "We meet again, you little cowardly traitor."

"M-meet again?" Katz squeaks out. "I've never s-seen you before in my life! Who are you?!"

"Doyle Kincade," the kat replies with a wicked grin.

"What? That's impossible! I-" Katz begins to say but before he can finish, Doyle grabs him out from under the desk by the collar of his shirt. Doyle holds Katz in the air with one hand. Katz' feet dangle a foot or more off the ground.

"See where your betrayal has gotten you, Katz? I have avenged my mother. My best friend. Now I will avenge my own death." Doyle forms another fireball in his other hand.

"D-Doyle! Please, don't do this. You can have control of the organization again. I'll step down and leave you alone! For good! Just please don't kill meeee…" Katz starts to bawl now as he pleads for his life.

"I will someday have control over more than just this organization, Katz. However you will never see that day." Doyle slowly brings the fireball close to Katz' chest.

"N-no! Please! Doyle, I- AAAAAUGH!!!"

Rain pours down now as Doyle returns to Kyle's lifeless body. He kneels down to his fallen friend and picks him up.

"I'm so sorry Kyle… you were right about how things would end all along," Doyle speaks quietly to him.

"How touching," says a familiar voice from behind Doyle. He turns to see the demoness from before. His mistress who he must now obey for eternity. She stands looking like a regular she-kat again, even her tail is normal and her wings gone. She floats a few inches off the wet ground holding an umbrella over her to keep dry in the drenching rain.

"Give me a few moments more. I must take him home to his family."

"Very well then. I'm in no hurry, servant."

"I'd like to go alone if you don't mind."

She smirks at him. "I will find you when you're through with your pathetic sentimental act of kindness then." After that she vanishes.

Doyle spreads out his wings and rises up into the sky carrying Kyle. He flies over the dark and rainy city until he reaches the McFurlane residence where Kyle's parents live. He gently lays Kyle on the porch swing and sighs heavily. Doyle quickly knocks on the door and flies away as he can't bear to see the reaction of Kyle's parents.

Doyle lands on a roof of one of the newer skyscrapers built several blocks away from Kyle's parents and kneels down. Sorrow fills his heart and even though he got his revenge by killing those responsible for the deaths of his loved ones, it still doesn't make the hurt go away.

"Quit sniveling and get up," the demoness says from behind him. "You're a dark servant of Hades, and my little soul gathering slave now." She chuckles.

Doyle remains where he is and doesn't reply.

"Did you hear me?" the demoness questions him sounding annoyed.

"Yes…"

"Why are you so miserable for anyway? You got what you wanted, did you not, my little dark kat?" the demoness asks him.

"I did… but it… it isn't enough!" Doyle answers with a growl.

The demoness chuckles and stands next to him. "Then you're in luck, dearie. Your service from now to eternity will be spent gathering the souls of kats. Perhaps you will someday feel your revenge is completed."

"I don't want the souls of random kats," Doyle says and stands up. He looks at the demoness. "I want the souls of those who've caused me pain. My family pain…"

"Why not just go for the whole city then?" The demoness laughs at him.

"That would take forever," Doyle replies seriously.

"Which is what you have. Unfortunately, YOU don't get to be choosy. You'll go where I say."

Doyle hisses then lets out a sigh. Lowering his head he knows he must accept this fate.

**Mount Fuji****Japan****: 1966 **

A few decades pass. Mega War II begins and ends, Megakat City grows double in size, society changes and a new police task force unit called the Enforcers begins as a sort of SWAT team of today. Thirty years have come and gone and Doyle has continued to serve the demoness and the powers below faithfully as per his contract.

However his spirit remains as strong as ever and thoughts of getting out of his contract have gone through his mind more than a few times. He's become more powerful than your average imp, but is still not allowed to go where he pleases. Most of the kats he knew have grown old and many have died by now. The trick is getting out of the deal but he has found no loopholes to help him in that.

Doyle had began to get brave, perhaps too brave as he planned and even staged a coup down in Hades to overthrow several higher up demons. That was foolish of him to attempt such a thing. He was smart enough however to cover his true involvement. Instead of getting destroyed and sent to oblivion like almost all the others involved, he was stripped of his demonic powers and banished to the "mortal realm" until he became more humbled. He didn't even have a choice of where he was blasted to, but the demoness he struck the deal with gave him a small break by sending him someplace where, unknown to him, his kind were worshipped.

Doyle found himself somewhere in Japan. He was placed at the top of what he later discovered was Mount Fuji. It was a long hard climb down as Doyle was now like a regular mortal though he still had the looks of a demon kat. Somewhere along the way he stumbled upon a small village that was near a temple. The long journey he had taken there caused Doyle to pass out with exhaustion.

When he finally woke up, Doyle realized he was inside the temple. Any wounds he sustained along the way were cleaned and dressed and a large gray robe had been put on him, tied with a black and red sash. Doyle stood up and looked around the inside of the temple. The inside was well kept up with and was lit with ceremonial lanterns whose glow shined about the large interior. The ceiling was high and behind Doyle at an altar was a large stone statue of what appeared to be a demon in a pose meant for frightening others.

Adorning the walls were a few paintings depicting the same demon as the statue in various poses as if they collectively were telling a story, one of which the demon was shown as a hero.

An old Japanese tom-kat enters the temple. He speaks to Doyle in Japanese, calling him "Neko Kurai" while kneeling down, bowing over in a sign of worship and respect. Doyle is able to understand him because as a demon he is capable of knowing any and all languages of the world to aid in soul bargaining and stealing.

"Neko Kurai?" Doyle asks the old kat. "Dark Kat?"

"Yes," the old kat replies and snaps his fingers. A few she-kats dressed in black and red kimonos enter the temple. They bow to the ground before Doyle and stand again to walk over to him and the old tom with a table tray of rice, shrimp and other fine foods along with a bottle of sake. They set the table down and place the food on top of it. They then place fine silken pillows on either side of the table, one side having larger ones for Doyle to sit.

"Why are you calling me this?" Doyle asks the old tom while watching the she-kats with interest.

The old tom looks at him oddly and chuckles. "Do you not know of our devotion to you and your brethren, oh Great One?" The old tom motions behind Doyle to the large statue and a few other smaller statues of demonic looking kats that are placed in various places inside the room. One looks very similar to Doyle himself.

"You worship demons then I see… but why?" Doyle sits down and begins to eat the food that the she-kats have brought.

"Legend long ago says that our small village was attacked by both mortal and demon kat alike. One day one of the demons came and said he would keep outsiders from attacking us in exchange for our leader's soul. He also promised that the demons would cease their attacks if we were to worship them and give them offerings. The leader understood the sacrifice he had to make and therefore agreed. The villagers agreed to worship the Neko Kurai and his demonic brethren for their protection. You resemble him or one of his dark demon kats."

Doyle looks over at the statues again in thought. "Dark Kat, huh?" he thinks to himself. "Not a bad name…"

"Our ninjakat clan is named for you as well, the Neko Kurai clan. The fighting style they use was taught to our ancestors long ago by the demons whom we worship."

"Ninjakat clan you say? How good are they, compared to others?"

"Very good. We train from a young age and for life. Those who prove themselves worthy by adulthood continue on to become full members."

"I see…" Doyle thinks this over getting an idea. In order for him to gain control of Megakat City he'll need help. These ninjas sound perfect. "Thank you for aiding me. Please, what is your name?"

"Daichi," the old tom answers. "I am the head of this village as well as leader of the Neko Kurai clan. If there is anything you desire, I will be sure that you get it."

**Neko**** Kurai Village****Japan****: 1967 **

Doyle has stayed at the village for several months now. Any small injury he may have gotten is long gone and he could leave at any time. However Doyle has taken this time to relax and contemplate his future plans. Daichi has promised Doyle that he can take the best of the Neko Kurai clan with him when he returns to Megakat City, and they've been training hard to impress Doyle.

During his stay Doyle's made use of his time by reading up on certain legends and the like. The village doesn't have much of a library, so he's requested certain types of books that the ninjakats had retrieved for him from a nearby city. In order for his plan to succeed, Doyle realizes he needs to look as he did once before when he was mortal. The villagers do not seem to mind his appearance, but then again they worship him and other demons.

Along with library books Doyle requested a few different newspapers from Japan and America for reading in keeping up with the current events. One evening while reading one of the American papers, Doyle came across a promising article. The article mentioned there were some artifacts discovered years ago in Egypt that had been brought to the Megakat Museum of Natural History for display. One such item caught Doyle's interest. A golden ring with a round ruby stone which is supposed to give the wearer the ability to become as they truly desire to be seen.

Doyle had high hopes that this legend was more fact than fiction. When the ten best ninjakats of the Neko Kurai were chosen, he packed up and headed back to America with them. Doyle thanked Daichi for his help and promised he would see to it that he and the village would prosper later on.

**Megakat****City****: same year **

After arriving in Megakat City, Doyle immediately dispatched a few of the ninjakats to steal the ring along with a few other notable items from the Museum. The heist went off without any flaws and it wouldn't be until morning when the items would be discovered missing.

Doyle had located an old warehouse that luckily hadn't been used since he had died. With the help of his ninjakats, the interior was cleaned up nicely. This would have to do as Doyle's base of operations until a more comfortable place could be obtained.

The ninjakats arrive with their loot now late in the night or rather early morning. Doyle has been awaiting them eagerly and now stands.

"Did it go flawlessly?" Doyle asks the ninjakats.

One of the three ninjakats nods and pulls out the ring from a pack on his belt. He hands it to Doyle.

Doyle takes the ring and grins looking at it. "Put the other items over there," he orders them, motioning to a small area he cleared out from old crates. The ninjakats comply. "Now leave me be and get some rest." The ninjakats bow and go to another part of the large warehouse to leave Doyle to himself.

"Let this legend be true…" Doyle says quietly and slides the large ring onto the index finger of his right hand. Nothing happens for a few moments as Doyle rubs the ruby jewel with a forefinger. Suddenly a sharp pain sears through Doyle's body and the ring begins to glow. He yelps and doubles over as the ring glows brightly. Doyle kneels on the floor of the old warehouse as his body feels like it is being twisted inside. He fights to not pass out from the intensity of the pain.

His fur color changes from purple to dark gray as his body gets a bit smaller and thinner.

His pupil-less eyes return to look like a regular kat's and his face becomes normal as it once had. Doyle ceases yowling as the transformation is complete. He lays there on the floor panting to catch his breath.

One of the ninjakats peers out from behind some crates, concerned for Doyle's well being.

He is shocked when he sees Doyle and steps back a bit.

"I'm alright, Katsuo." Doyle says noticing the ninjakat. He slowly sits up and holds his head. Noting his hand he grins. "In fact, I'm more than alright." He laughs now as a major part of his plans has succeeded.

Over the next couple of years, Doyle begins building a new organization. The ring only allows him to look like his former mortal self instead of his demonic "Dark Kat" self for a limited amount of time. Because changing is a pain, literally, he would rather not do it too often.

Doyle went to see if anyone from his old mob was still alive. The organization, however, was finished after Doyle's night of revenge so it was necessary for him to bring up a new group of kats. In order to get some clout with the thugs and low lives, he claimed to be his own grandson. Some of the older kats would know the name if it was mentioned as Doyle had made a name for himself before dying.

There was one mob group in particular ran by a Slick Mercedes who was interested in Doyle when hearing about him, and Doyle went to work with them. Slick was the grandson of the former leader of Doyle's mob, Mick, and knew of Doyle's loyalty from his grandfather and father too. Slick had started up his own mob with new and different kats and offered Doyle the position of being one of his right hand kats. Doyle was content to work alongside this new generation of mobsters even if he wasn't the main boss. He didn't have to work his way up the ladder as he did when joining up with Mick's gang under Katz.

**Megakat****City****: 1971 **

During his time with this new criminal organization, Doyle had plans for taking it over and leading it as his own. He was well liked for his shrewd manner in dealing with others when on a job as well for his ideas. The new Enforcers were becoming a problem for the mobs in Megakat City, but Doyle was able to outwit them on numerous occasions, often secretly with help from his ninjakats who still served him loyally.

Doyle was sent often to check up on one of the nightclubs that his mob owned. He and his fellow mobsters hung out there often for the drinks were free to them and there was dancing and gorgeous she-kats about. Doyle hadn't planned on taking a liking to another she-kat again, but an Ebony Bombay had changed his mind.

Ebony was, on paper anyway, the owner of the Kat's Meow club in downtown Megakat City. She was clever and witty and worked for the mob letting them use her club for illicit dealings in exchange for a part of their profits. It was a rare thing for a she-kat to be regarded highly enough to have such a deal in the first place. That was part of why Doyle found Ebony intriguing.

At first she didn't seem interested and played hard to get. Doyle wasn't the only tom-kat who was interested in getting in her good graces. Ebony was a beautiful she-kat with light gray fur and short curly black hair which she often wore an Afro wig over when working at the club to be more "hip" with the times. She liked the disco scene but her real musical choice was the classical and opera.

Doyle learned this over time and one evening presented her with two tickets to the Megakat Orchestra where the opera La Rondine was being performed. Ebony finally said yes to this date proposal and went with Doyle to the event. The two finally had a discussion of their likes, dislikes, goals and other such things in life.

Doyle drives Ebony home after the opera and she invites him in for coffee.

"I had no idea you were into classical music as well, Doyle," Ebony says to him as she brings out two cups of coffee with cream.

"I don't care much for the disco and rock and roll that's popular today," Doyle replies and takes his cup of coffee from her.

Ebony laughs a little. "You sound like my grandfather."

Doyle grins at her. "I hear that often."

"From other she-kats?"

"No, from everyone really. The only time I care to listen to disco or rock 'n roll is when you're singing the tune."

Ebony blushes slightly. "Yeah, well as much fun as I have singin' for the Kat's Meow, I'd rather be singin' in a performance like tonight's." Ebony sets her cup down and looks a bit longingly into it.

"Oh? Well why don't you? I'm sure they'd be happy to accept you." Doyle says assuredly to her.

She merely laughs. "Oh they want you to have some sort of trainin' for that, either from a school or college… I never could afford to get professional lessons, and with this club I wouldn't have time anyway."

"You'd have the money though. You could make the time."

"That's easier said than done, Doyle," she says and looks at him. "You know how hard it is to keep the club runnin'? Heck if it wasn't for Slick's guys, I would've had to close it down by now. Got a lot of expenses goin' out and just enough money goin' in to let myself live comfortably."

"I'll pay for lessons," Doyle smiles at her.

"That so? And let me guess what you'd want in return..." Ebony replies with a frown.

"Nothing but the pleasure of hearing you sing, my dear."

Ebony laughs again. "Pleasure of hearin' me sing? Do I have stupid stamped on my forehead?" she asks putting her hands on her hips.

"No, you do not. And I'm not the sort of kat who uses a she-kat for that sort of thing. My offer is sincere," Doyle answers gently. "Sing for me now. Some lovely aria. Your choice."

"Well… alright then." Ebony stands and goes over to a shelf where many albums are along with a record player. She sifts through a few of them and takes out a record then places it on the player. Doyle watches her curiously with interest. Ebony begins to sing along with the music. Something about her singing stirs within Doyle.

Even before Doyle sold his soul and became a demon working for the powers of evil he lost interest in getting into another relationship with a she-kat. Suzie was his first serious relationship and she chose to abandon him because he wouldn't give in to her demands and quit his job with the mob. Now as a demon the idea of being involved with someone was even more ridiculous. What would be the point? Since he'll now live forever never aging, she would and then he'd be alone again. Of course what guarantee does he have that he will live forever? Since he's been stripped of his powers he hasn't felt any signs of aging but if shot with a bullet, Doyle wouldn't be able to use magic to heal himself.

That's when a thought occurred to him. If he manages to take Megakat City for his own and more, he'd need to be sure someone could take his place and continue on all his hard work and efforts. An heir of sorts, a son. Ebony would be the perfect candidate for this purpose. She's young, intelligent, already in with the mob, working with the same criminal organization he is. It would be a perfect match.

After their first night together, Doyle asked if Ebony would be his girl and only his. She agreed and the two dated for several months before Doyle proposed to her. Ebony was shocked at the proposal but was thrilled and less than a month later they were married.

Nearly all of their friends, family and co-workers came to the lavish wedding Doyle sprung for. Even someone who Doyle didn't expect showed up. The demoness who he made the contract with for his soul showed up and demanded to speak with Doyle privately.

"What are you doing here?" he asks her quietly after dragging her into the tom's bathroom.

The demoness grins at him and leans against a wall. "I came to congratulate you, Doyle… or is it Dark Kat as those in the Neko Kurai clan call you?"

"You know about that?" he asks surprised and quickly checks the bathroom to make sure no one else is in there.

She chuckles. "Of course I know. You're my servant still though you can't serve me as well. I've been keeping tabs on you from time to time."

"I see," Doyle goes back to the demoness. "Well thank you for your visit, but you really need to go before you're spotted."

"Maw… don't you want my wedding gift to you?"

"Wedding gift?"

"Indeed!" The demoness snaps her fingers and a small hole appears on the tiled floor of the bathroom. Doyle steps away from it as smoke rises from it and the faint glow of fire shines upward along the sides. A strange almost chittering like noise soon is heard and a pinkish clawed hand suddenly reaches out of the hole and grabs onto the floor. The hand's owner is now seen pulling itself out of the hole followed by several more of its kind. They are strange bat like creatures with black eyes and pinkish bodies. After the last of them emerges from the hole, it closes.

"Imps…?" Doyle guesses looking from the creatures to the demoness. "Why have you brought imps here?"

"They are called creeplings and I'm giving them to you so that you can complete the evil which you have planned for this city," the demoness answers.

"Creeplings, huh? I wish you'd have brought them somewhere else, like to my warehouse lair where the ninjakats are. Not in the hotel where I was just wed!"

The demoness laughs. "Well I could have them go loose on your guests and surprise your precious bride. Bet she'd get a real kick out of seeing them, wouldn't you say dearie?"

Doyle growls at her. "Okay, okay. But I need them out of here."

"Tell them where you wish them to go. They are to obey you… Dark Kat." The demoness sneers.

Doyle looks at the creeplings and they look up at him in return. "To the warehouse at the docks… number 43."

The creeplings nod and climb out the bathroom window where they fly off into the night sky towards the destination Doyle told them.

"See? Now, what do you say to your mistress for the great present?" the demoness purrs and scritches underneath Doyle's chin.

"Thank you," he simply answers.

The demoness cackles in response and vanishes. Mere moments after she disappeared, someone enters the restroom.

**Megakat****City****: 1973 **

Doyle keeps Ebony in the dark about his other life as a banished powerless demon dubbed Dark Kat by others. Sure she doesn't care about him being a criminal but Doyle figures she would care about him being a slave of true evil. Perhaps he will tell her someday before her days end but for now it will remain a secret.

Or so he assumed it would.

Two years after they were married, Doyle and Ebony had a daughter. Though Doyle was wishing for a son, he was content enough for Ebony's sake. They named the girl Felony half in jest because of their own criminal careers. Felony's name wasn't the only strange thing about her.

The kitten had light gray fur like her mother and orange eyes like her father but something more was inherited. Something from Doyle's demonic side had shown up as the kitten's hair had a purplish shade to it and her ears were more elongated than normal.

Doyle dismissed it to Ebony as something she would grow out of in a year or so most likely. However, the ears remained long and the hair grew to be more than purplish in shade but entirely purple and very noticeable.

A simple birth defect is what Doyle had told Ebony and when she insisted he elaborate more on his ancestry he grew annoyed with her. Ebony dropped the subject but not the curiosity. Worried that their little girl might have health problems which might be part of this "birth defect", Ebony went into the public records in search of Doyle's family tree. After much research she came across Doyle's birth certificate. However it wasn't this Doyle Kincade but another. Doyle had told Ebony he was Doyle Robert Kincade III but the records only show a Doyle Robert Kincade. It gave the birth date not on June 6th, 1950 as Doyle had told her that was when he was born, but on June 6th, 1906. It was the only record of any Doyle Kincade that had been born in Megakat City.

Ebony brings this up with Doyle one evening as she wonders why this error occurred.

"How should I know what happened with my birth certificate, Ebony? Do I work in city hall?" Doyle says to her with a frown while rocking Felony to sleep.

"Yours and your father's, Doyle," Ebony informs him. "Don't you think that's a bit odd?"

"I think it's a bit annoying, just like you are right now," Doyle growls at her. He stands up and puts a sleeping Felony in her crib.

"Well excuse me for my concern," Ebony retorts and exits the room.

Once Felony's asleep in the crib, Doyle goes out after Ebony and shuts the door. "Your concern? Over a simple mistake? I'll see to it that it's fixed, Ebony."

"It's more than that it's just…"

"Just what? Tell me what it is that's bothering you. I've still got time before having to meet with the boss." Doyle puts his arms around Ebony.

"It's Felony. I think she may have somethin' wrong with her vision or maybe even worse." Ebony tells him quietly.

"Her vision? The doctors have said it is normal."

"Doyle," Ebony pushes back from his arms gently. "Have you ever noticed when Felony's really upset at somethin' her eyes sort of… glow? It's like you can't tell her cornea from her iris or pupil."

Doyle laughs a little though it's a bit uneasy. "No I haven't. You're imagining things. That's all."

"I swear I'm not! I know it sounds strange but I know what I saw, it has happened more than once, Doyle."

"You're imagining things, I said!" Doyle snaps at her. "I've got to go."

"That's another thing. You've always gotta go. I hardly see you Doyle. I thought when kats got married, they're supposed to be able to spend more time together, not less," she scowls at him.

"I'm busy you know that! It can't be helped," he replies, putting his jacket and fedora on.

"Well I know for a fact that Mr. Slick Mercedes is out of town tonight on a cruise ship with his woman." Doyle turns around quickly to face Ebony. "That's right. She was goin' on about it last night at the club. So where are you really goin' Doyle? Tell me straight, I can take it." She puts her hands on her hips and waits for his answer.

"You don't want to know, nor do you need to," Doyle replies curtly and goes to the door to leave.

"I don't- I don't need to?" she says getting angry. "Well I think I do need to, Doyle Robert Kincade. I'm your wife. You ain't supposed to be hidin' things from me."

Standing at the door he growls a little and looks over his shoulder at her. His eyes begin to glow bright orange like flames as he rubs the ruby on his ring. "You want to know everything about me do you? I wasn't planning on showing you until much later but since you're so determined…" Doyle turns to face her completely again wincing.

Ebony takes a step back. "Doyle…?"

Doyle holds onto his middle and folds his arms as the transformation begins which slowly restores him to his demonic side. He gets on his knees before her and grits his teeth at the agony this puts him through still. His clothes tear in several places as his body has grown larger, wider, and he stands fully again when it's over.

Ebony's eyes widen taking this all in. Frightened at the end result, she stumbles backwards tripping over a coffee table behind her. "Who are you? What are you?!" she exclaims with fright.

"I am a demon, banished to the mortal world," Doyle calmly explains, watching Ebony scrambling to get to her feet. "As for who I am, I was Doyle Robert Kincade and still am from time to time." He chuckles. "I am called Dark Kat now."

"A demon?" Ebony asks incredulously.

"A demon." He walks towards her now with a hand outstretched, reaching to take hers in it. "Come with me and I shall explain everything."

Ebony holds her head with both hands and shakes it. "No. No! This can't be!"

"But it is, my dear wife. There is no need to fear me, I won't harm you." He tries to grab hold of her by the wrist.

"Stay back!" she screams and throws a glass ashtray at him from one of the end tables in the room. Doyle knocks it aside. "Just stay back. You hearin' me? What do you want with me? Huh? Why me?"

"Why you what? Why did I choose to marry you?"

"Yeah, foo'! Why?!" Ebony asks as she slowly makes her way up the stairs and towards Felony's room.

Doyle sighs and looks rather frustrated as he watches her, slowly going up after her. "Because you are the only she-kat worthy of being my companion. I thought you'd understand."

"Understand what? That I married a servant to the Devil himself?! You out your mind?!" She reaches the door and opens it, backing up into Felony's room. Doyle moves towards her now.  
"No, so calm down and let me explain this to you!"

Ebony shuts the door with a slam before Doyle reaches her. She locks it from the inside to keep Doyle out as long as possible. Felony wakes up hearing the slam and begins crying.

"Shhh, I'm sorry Felony, don't cry," Ebony says to Felony as she takes the kitten up in her arms. Grabbing a blanket Ebony wraps Felony up in it and sooths the crying kitten.

"Ebony? Ebony open the door," Doyle says to her as he knocks on the door. She doesn't respond to him and he pounds the door a little harder. "Ebony, answer me."

"Go away! I don't want to talk to you right now," Ebony says as she slides to the floor against one of the walls near Felony's crib. "Please Doyle… just… just give me some time on this."

Doyle sighs and steps back from the door. "Very well. We'll discuss this when I return home. I love you Ebony, you and our daughter both. Remember that." He goes down the hall and to their bedroom to change clothes. Soon he leaves their house completely.

After a half hour or so, Ebony emerges cautiously from Felony's room. Felony had once again fallen asleep. Seeing no sign of Doyle, Ebony hurries down the hall to Doyle's study. She sets the sleeping kitten on a sofa that's in the room and searches through a drawer in Doyle's desk. She finds some stationary and a pen and quickly writes out a letter. When finished she puts the letter in an envelope and seals it up. Ebony checks the phone book quickly before exiting the study to find an address.

Lightning flashes outside and a thunderclap sounds startling Ebony. She quickly grabs up Felony again and rushes to the living room. Ebony puts on her black raincoat and puts the letter inside one of the pockets of it. With Felony in tow, Ebony hurries outside into the rain. However she's unaware that she's being pursued.

The cold rain pours down on the streets of Megakat City as Ebony flees. It is late in the evening and not many are out because of the sudden rain. The rain splatters and runs down the plastic fabric of Ebony's black raincoat as she makes her way downtown.

Her satin high heels are getting dirty and soaked with the mud and dirty rain. She ducks in an alley to pause a moment. A few small devilish shadows pass her by and continue down the street. Ebony wasn't quite sure what that was but had a feeling Doyle knew she had left. She skitters down the alley making a few sharp turns to make sure to loose them.  
Reaching her destination, Ebony runs up the few steps to an old building and kneels by the door. The small roof of the porch keeps the rain off her and she holds her daughter closely. "Felony," she whispers to the kitten, "I'm sorry I've done this to you." She gently moves one of the blankets from Felony's head to look at her easier. Felony who had woken up during the trip smiles and coos, looking sleepily at Ebony with her bright orange eyes.

"It's for the best…," Ebony says quietly carefully setting Felony on the ground of the porch. "If I make it, I'll come back for you, okay?" Tears filling her blue eyes, Ebony pulls out the envelope from the pocket of her raincoat and puts it on Felony. Leaning over, she kisses her kitten one last time. "I love you," she says and stands up slowly. Ebony looks around and presses the doorbell next to the door then leaps from the steps. Looking back once more, she continues down the street, trying to ignore the pain in her heart and the stinging of the tears in her eyes.

A few moments later, the door to the building opens, and a short plump she-kat appears. "Hello?" she asks and looks around where her eyes finally look down to see the kitten. "What's this?" she asks herself and lifts up the kitten in her arms.

"Well, who is it?" another she-kat asks, coming from behind the first.

"Seems we've got another one to take care of, Melissa," the first she-kat states.

"It's been awhile since we've gotten a new kit here at Softpaw Orphanage," Melissa smiles and the two go inside.

** A few hours later… **

Ebony leaves the Enforcers' building angrily. They didn't believe her story about Doyle and laughed in her face. Bad enough they made her wait an hour to even talk with her, but they had kept her an hour more to make sure she wasn't drunk. The rain had stopped by the time Ebony left the Enforcers and she walked along unsure of where to go.

It would be too soon to go back for Felony. There was no way she'd go back to her home to face Doyle or Dark Kat or whoever he was. Ebony decided to stay in a hotel for the night. She had some cash on her which she hoped would be enough.

Ebony goes into an alley for a shortcut to the nearest hotel. The sky still overcast caused the alleyway to be dark. Only a couple of street lights on either opening of the alleyway served as a light source. Suddenly Ebony hears a few splashes behind her and stops dead in her tracks. She turns to see who it is and yelps with fear and surprise.

Three creeplings emerge from the shadows towards Ebony. She quickly turns and runs from the creatures as fast as she can. Ebony turns down another alleyway but skids to a stop as she's reached a dead end. The three creeplings snicker and are joined by a few more. They all rush over towards the frightened she-kat.

Ebony grabs up a plank of wood that was lying on the ground and swings it wildly as the creeplings leap towards her. She manages to hit a couple but the wood breaks and they all soon overtake her.

"Let me go!" Ebony screams at them as she struggles in their grasp. The creeplings pull and scratch at her to keep her back against the wall on the ground. Suddenly another figure enters the alley.

"Just where to you think you can go, Ebony?" Doyle asks as he appears in the alleyway. His pupil-less eyes glow like fire as he glares at her.

"Away from you, you monster!" Ebony shouts seeing him approaching her.

"A monster am I?" Doyle laughs and pulls out a pistol. He aims it at her and the creeplings move out of the way. "Where is my daughter?"

Ebony hisses at him. "I'll never tell you that. She's safe from you, Doyle or Dark Kat or whoever the heck you are!"

Doyle narrows his eyes. "Dark Kat will do." A 'click' is heard as he flicks off the safety of his pistol. Still aiming it at her he asks, "One last chance to redeem yourself, my dear Ebony. Where is Felony?"

"You might as well kill me, Dark Kat," Ebony replies defiantly. "Maybe I'll see you in-" Ebony is silenced before she could finish her sentence.

Despite Ebony's efforts, Doyle finds out where Felony was taken. He would have gone to claim her but his plans have changed as he now fully embraces his demonhood. Letting go of the identity of Doyle Kincade, he now calls himself Dark Kat and remains as the demon side as much as possible.

Dark Kat realizes that having a kitten around to raise by himself wouldn't work. He's never been a father and didn't have any siblings to learn the basic knowledge of taking care of kits. The orphanage Ebony had taken Felony to was known for being a good one, and so he decided to let them take care of his daughter while he carried on his plans. He would come back for her when she's an adult and thus he kept track of her whereabouts. It was easy though, as no one adopted Felony.

Another thing which Dark Kat decides to leave is the mob. Sure Slick was a great boss like his grandfather, but Dark Kat had had his fill of the mob life. The less he had to be Doyle the better and so as far as Slick or anyone knew, Doyle was murdered like Ebony was and their daughter's status was unknown. Doyle's death was a tragic story with a sad ending just like his first one.

Because Dark Kat wasn't working in the mob any more didn't mean he wouldn't deal with them later in the future. Later on as the years passed he came to Slick's group to purchase weaponry and other items as well as sold illicit goods to them. They had a nice relationship going but Dark Kat relied on his ninjakats and creeplings to aid him in heists.

Dark Kat began his reign of terror slowly with random bank robberies and jewelry store heists. Because the Neko Kurai clan were so well trained and his creeplings had a demonic edge, it took a long while before these cases were put all together. The Enforcers had grown to become a full-fledged militaristic force in Megakat City and had taken over the police's jurisdiction to replace them entirely.

After several years of these mysterious thefts and the like, Dark Kat felt it was time to make himself known to the public at large.

**Megakat****City****: 1987 **

The Mayor of Megakat City has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. It takes a lot of work and know how to run such a major metropolis. The current Mayor of Megakat City is a tom-kat by the name of William Henry Manx. He's now in the middle of his seventh term and well liked by the populace at large.

He had begun to get a little lazy in his mayoral duties as delegating tasks to his deputy mayor and other staff seemed to get things done. Manx recently took on a new deputy mayor as his former one had wished to retire. A young bright she-kat a few years out of college, Callico Briggs proved to be a great assistant to the mayor. Her energy was put to good use as Manx relied on her for more responsibilities than he had his former deputy mayor.

Later it was learned that Manx's former deputy mayor was murdered. He had been dealing with some criminal organization or another, taking bribes to push things the head boss wanted and halting projects that the city needed. No one knew of these former dealings much less that it was Dark Kat that was calling the shots with the former deputy mayor.

Dark Kat had always had the desire to lead. A simple mobster group wasn't enough of course and he'd been working his way into the political scene secretly through the old deputy mayor. When the deputy mayor retired, that put Dark Kat out of City Hall and put the dearly departed into the bottom of Megakat Bay.

It was time for Dark Kat to step up a bit. Time to contact Mayor Manx himself with an agenda. However, Manx wouldn't hear of it despite Dark Kat's attempts at bribery by contributing to the city's funds. The deputy mayor had been instructed to keep all calls from a Mr. Doyle Kincade from reaching Manx. After a year of trying, Dark Kat decided that if Manx was elected again for a seventh term it would be his last should he not cooperate.

The Mayor was a family tom and had a wife and daughter. This is a weakness for Dark Kat to use to his advantage. Dark Kat decides to pay the Manx family a visit one evening at their manor.

Manx's wife Felicia folds laundry in the living room while her daughter Alexandria sits on the sofa reading a storybook.

"Momma, when is daddy coming home?" Alexandria asks looking up from her book.

"He'll be home in an hour, sweetie," Felicia answers as she finishes folding the last of some towels.

"He said he'd be home more when this election was over…that was over a month ago."

"He can't help it, Alexandria. You know that," Felicia replies and smiles at her. "Will you take these towels and put them in the hall closet upstairs for me?" Alexandria sighs getting up and takes the stack of folded towels upstairs to the hall closet as asked. Someone knocks on the front door.  
"Just a moment!" Felicia says as she goes to the door to answer it. She looks through the peephole to see who it is. Whoever it is isn't visible so she opens the door slightly to look out. Alexandria peers over the railing in the hall upstairs that partially overlooks the living room below.

"Hello? Anyone out there?" Felicia asks looking around.

"Just someone stopping by on a business call, Mrs. Manx," a strong deep male voice replies. The voice's owner shoves the door open all the way and he with a few other kats which are dressed in ninja garb enter the house. Felicia yelps with surprise and backs away. She looks up terrified at the large purple tom-kat. The kat has a twisted face, glowing orange eyes and is dressed in robes and a hooded cape. The ninjakats quickly make their way past the Felicia and the large kat through the manor and begin searching the place over. Two of them make their way up the stairs.

Alexandria gasps seeing this and runs down the hall to her room and shuts the door afterwards.

"Who… who are you?" Felicia asks.

"I am Dark Kat," the tom-kat replies with a sneer as he glances casually around the living room.

"What, what do you want?"

"Momma!" Alexandria shouts from upstairs before Dark Kat answers Felicia's question. A ninjakat has the little girl slung over his shoulder and brings her downstairs.

"Alexandria!" Felicia exclaims and then glares at Dark Kat. "Don't hurt her! She's only a kitten!"

"Don't worry, Felicia," Dark Kat grins as he reaches out taking Alexandria by the collar of her dress behind her neck and holds the little girl in the air. "No one will be harmed if your husband cooperates with me." He laughs now as Alexandria struggles in his grasp to get free. "Tell 'William' that if he wishes to see his daughter alive to give me a call at this number." Dark Kat snaps his fingers and one of the ninjakats hands Felicia a card with only a phone number on it.

"What?!" Felicia exclaims. "No! Take me instead! Please!"

Dark Kat merely laughs. "Inform your husband of what I asked, Mrs. Manx. He has 12 hours to contact me." He turns and the ninjakats quickly exit the house.

Felicia hisses and leaps at Dark Kat. Grabbing a hold of his arm she bites down so Dark Kat will release Alexandria. Dark Kat yowls and drops Alexandria then turns to punch Felicia, sending her reeling to the floor.

"Run, Alexandria!" Felicia shouts to her daughter as she sits up holding her head. Alexandria nods and runs but doesn't make it far as a ninjakat scoops her up.

Dark Kat walks over to Felicia and looms over the she-kat. "Your husband now has one hour to contact me, Mrs. Manx," he says to her holding his bitten arm. Felicia sobs now feeling helpless and Dark Kat turns again to leave, soon exiting the house after his ninjakats and Alexandria.

** Forty-minutes later… **

Felicia contacted her husband as soon as Dark Kat had left. She also called the Enforcers to handle this situation informing them to keep this out of the media. Manx arrives home as fast as possible and now sits with the Enforcer who was put in charge of this case, the newly appointed Lt. Commander Ulysses Feral.

"And you're sure neither of you have ever seen this 'Dark Kat' before today?" Feral asks after taking statements from both Felicia and William Manx.

"No!" the mayor angrily answers. "Just tell me how I can get my daughter back!"

Feral sighs. "Where's the card with Dark Kat's number?"

"Here." Felicia hands the card with the number on it to the Lt. Commander. "We only have twenty more minutes to call!"

Feral looks it over. "Is the tracer and recorder set up yet?" He asks the other Enforcers in the room. One of them stands.

"Sir, yes sir," he replies motioning to the phone in the living room.

"Good," Feral looks at Manx now. "You're going to call this Dark Kat and see what he wants. Agree to whatever he says and if at all possible stall to make the conversation as long as you can."

Manx nods and goes over to the telephone. He takes a glance at Felicia who nods and then dials.

Dark Kat answers the phone from his lair somewhere in downtown Megakat City in an abandoned litter factory. "Mayor Manx. I was beginning to wonder if you cared about your precious little girl," he chuckles.

Manx growls. "You better not have harmed her or I'll-"

"You'll do nothing but be silent if you want her back, Mayor!" Dark Kat replies.

One of the Enforcers nods silently to Feral and the others as the tape records the conversation. Another waits for the tracer to pick up the number's location.

"Now now, don't be hasty…" Manx says on edge. "I'll do whatever you say."

"Excellent," Dark Kat says with a grin. "First I want you to ditch the Enforcers you have there at your home."

"Enforcers?" Manx chuckles nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about…"

"What did I just say about being silent, Manx?" Dark Kat asks annoyed.

Manx gulps but says nothing.

"Within the next hour, I want you to leave your home, get in your car, and drive to your office at City Hall. When you get there, you will receive further instructions. If you are followed or if anyone is with you, well… your daughter will regret it." Dark Kat snaps his fingers and one of the ninjakats brings Alexandria over to Dark Kat. "Do you understand?"

"Yes… I do. Please… may I speak with my daughter?" Manx asks quietly.

Dark Kat grimaces and looks to Alexandria. "Your daddy wants to talk with you, little one." He hands Alexandria the phone.

"Daddy?" Alexandria asks with a whimper.

"Alexandria!" Manx exclaims. "Alexandria, are you alright? Has he hurt you?"

Tears start streaming down Alexandria's cheeks. "I'm scared daddy… he hasn't hurt me but he's scary and has scary pets…"

Manx holds back any tears as he replies in a shaky voice. "Don't worry, Alexandria… I'll get you back safe and sound, alright?"

"O-okay daddy," Alexandria says to him. Dark Kat takes the phone away from her.

"See, she is alright. For now. Your office, Manx. And remember, come alone and stay alone or else!" Dark Kat laughs and hangs up the phone.

"Hello? Hello?!" Manx growls and slams the phone down. Felicia bursts into tears, holding her face.

Feral looks to the Enforcer that was tracing the call. "Got a location, Bengal?"

"Not exactly. Narrowed it down to a block wide radius east of here, down by Old Megakat Bridge," the Enforcer answers.

"That's good enough," Feral says turning to look at the other Enforcers. "Alright men! You'll go to the location specified by Bengal's coordinates. Move quickly but move silently. When you've located this Dark Kat, contact me immediately and wait for my instructions. Until then maintain radio silence. Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" The Enforcers reply in unison.

Dark Kat grins looking at Alexandria now. "You did a good job, Alexandria. If things go well then I will keep my promise to send you back home safely."

Alexandria sniffles looking up at him. "R-really?"

"Really." Dark Kat says and pats the kitten on the top of her head gently. "Until then you're going to stay right here with me. My creeplings will not harm you so long as you behave yourself."

"Why are you doing this?" Alexandria asks him quietly.

"Because I wish to relieve your father of his mayoral position," Dark Kat chuckles.

"You mean… you want to take his job? You won't hurt him… will you?"

"Not if he cooperates."

"Oh…" she looks away from him down to the floor where a few creeplings sit, watching.  
Dark Kat looks at Alexandria thoughtfully. "You know, I have a daughter who is about your age, Alexandria."

"You do?" Alexandria replies, looking back up at him quickly. "Why is she not here with you?"

"Because I'm working," he replies simply.

"Daddy sometimes takes me to his office," Alexandria says. "He's got a big desk and a golf game thing to practice his putting with."

Dark Kat chuckles and pats the innocent kitten's head again. "Is that so? What else does your daddy have in his office?"

The two carry on a conversation until the creeplings he sent to Manx's office contact him.

He keeps Alexandria in his lap and waits with her in silence. However things don't remain too silent after awhile.

Lt. Commander Feral's Enforcers search the area that the tracer led them to near Old Megakat Bridge. Searching around, they discover the old factory and verified it to be Dark Kat's. A couple of Alexandria's "scary pets" were what gave the old factory away. Two creeplings were walking around guarding the place. An Enforcer sniper manages to take them out from a distance and the Enforcers position themselves around the factory and wait for Feral's orders.

Manx meanwhile reaches his office at City Hall. Rain begins to pour down when he enters the building. Quickly he makes his way to his office and is greeted by three of the creeplings who sit in his office.

"What, what in the world?!" Manx exclaims with fright seeing the little creatures. They snicker and one hands Manx a letter. It motions for him to read it. Warily, Manx opens the letter to read it. The letter gives him directions to Dark Kat's hideout. "This is where you want me to go?" he asks then yelps again as the other two creeplings leap forward and rifle through his pockets, searching the Mayor for any weapons. Once they are through, they contact Dark Kat by pressing a small button on a little radio communicator device.

"Bring him to me, unharmed if possible," Dark Kat says to them via the communicator. The creeplings are quick to obey and start shoving and dragging Manx out of the office.

Feral arrives at the factory after he was contacted by his ready Enforcers. "Well, how does it look? Have you spotted Dark Kat or Alexandria?" he asks his sergeant.

The Sergeant shakes his head. "I'm afraid not. If we got any closer we'd alert him and any other creature or kat he's got inside there.

"Creature?" Feral asks with a brow raised.

"Affirmative. Take a look." The Sergeant gives the Lt. Commander a pair of binoculars and points out a direction to look. Feral's mouth drops open a bit as he sees one of the downed creeplings.

"What is that thing?" he asks, handing back the binoculars.

"Not sure, nothing I've ever seen before, sir, but there was another one out there too we took down. Who knows how many the place is crawling with."

"Well, whatever those things are, we're still going in and getting the Mayor's daughter out," Feral replies. "Is there a team ready to go in?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Send the first team in."

A team of six Enforcers go and sneak inside from what appears to be an unguarded part of the factory. They don't get too far however before more of the creeplings inside are alerted to their presence. One of them informs Dark Kat of them.

Dark Kat chuckles and looks down at Alexandria. "Your daddy is being bad, Alexandria. He has sent Enforcers when I told him not to." His tone of voice sounds angry at the last part and the kitten shrinks at his glowing eyes and angry expression. "Get rid of them!" he shouts to the creepling and it quickly runs off to obey. "Katsuo," Dark Kat says to a nearby ninjakat. "Make sure no one else enters this factory." The ninjakat bows and heads off, followed by a few others. Dark Kat keeps Alexandria close to him in case his creeplings and ninjakats fail to defeat the Enforcers. She will make a good shield and keep them from firing.

The Enforcers manage to take out several creeplings, but the ninjakats prove to be more difficult opponents. Only one Enforcer finds himself remaining and takes up his radio.

"Lt. Commander, this is Team One leader, my team's been taken down, requesting back up! Do you copy?" he radios in.

"Roger that, I'm sending in back up," Feral replies but gets no further response from the radio communicator other than a small shout of pain then static. "Get two more teams in there, now!" Feral orders as he himself pulls on some riot gear.

"You're going in as well, sir?" his sergeant asks.

"Someone's got to get to Manx's daughter." Feral replies. "You're in charge while I'm in there." The sergeant salutes Feral who then heads out with one of the two teams into the factory. The two teams go in from either side. Feral figures that Dark Kat won't kill Alexandria just yet as he still needs her to get Manx to do what he wants in this hostage situation.

The ninjakats and few remaining creeplings attack both teams from their entry points. Feral makes his way past the shooting towards another part of the factory, silently searching for this Dark Kat himself. Soon Feral spots the large, strange looking tom kat with purple fur and a twisted face. He's relieved to see that Alexandria seems unharmed but frowns at how close she is to him. This will make getting a shot off difficult.  
As Feral plots how to get the little girl away from Dark Kat, one of his Enforcers has managed to get behind Dark Kat, surprising him.

"Gnar!" Dark Kat growls hearing the Enforcer behind him and stands, pulling up Alexandria with him in one of his massive arms. With his other hand, Dark Kat pulls out a gun and fires it killing the Enforcer. "Where are you Manx?!" he bellows out in frustration. Alexandria's eyes widen as she sees this, and clings to Dark Kat's robe, scared.

"Things not going as you planned, you psychotic monster?" Feral asks as he comes out from his hiding place, aiming a larger rifle at Dark Kat.

Dark Kat turns fully to face him. "No, things aren't going to go as YOU plan, Lt. Commander," Dark Kat answers, then aims the gun to Alexandria's head. "I told Manx no Enforcers! His daughter shall pay for his disobedience…"

Alexandria lets out a small yelp now, feeling the edge of the gun's barrel at her head.

"You sicko," Feral hisses. "You kill her and I kill you and that will be the end. Let her go. Now."

Dark Kat laughs. "You won't risk it. You've worked too hard to become the Lt. Commander of Megakat City's Enforcers, Ulysses Feral. The death of an innocent girl on your hands will ruin chances of advancement."

Feral takes a few steps closer to Dark Kat. "And the death of an innocent girl isn't necessary nor will get you what you want. Let her go, take me instead."

"I don't think so," Dark Kat replies, standing firm where he is, continuing to hold Alexandria in one arm and aiming the gun at her head point blank. "Am I really worth her life, Lt. Commander?" Feral cocks his rifle at that. "You know we can work out a deal… I'll see to it that you get the position of Commander almost immediately and we'll let Alexandria go."

"Something I've promised myself I'd never do since I started out, Dark Kat. I don't deal with criminal scum," Feral answers, and after taking careful aim he fires a shot hitting Dark Kat in the arm in which he's holding his gun. Dark Kat lets out a yowl of pain and drops his weapon. Alexandria wriggles from his loosened grip and drops to the floor. Feral moves in now, firing a lethal shot to Dark Kat's heart. Dark Kat falls backwards onto the floor with a large thud and is still. Alexandria screams.

Manx arrives on the scene outside of the factory, the few creeplings fleeing seeing the Enforcers. He pushes past the gathered Enforcers and reaches the Enforcer sergeant.

"What happened? What's going on?!" he demands, seeing the fallen teams slowly being helped out one or two at a time to awaiting ambulances that had arrived.

The sergeant begins to reply when Lt. Commander Feral is seen exiting the factory, carrying Alexandria in his arms.

"Alexandria!" Manx shouts and rushes over to Feral where he reaches out for her.

"Daddy!" Alexandria cries out and clings to her father, sobbing.

"Is his body secured?" Feral asks looking at the Sergeant.

"Affirmative sir. They've just brought out the body bag." The sergeant motions with a hand towards the direction where Dark Kat's body was taken, however the bag sits empty.

"Where?" Feral asks narrowing his eyes. The Sergeant gasps and both he and Feral hurry over there while Manx quietly reassures his daughter everything will be okay.

"I don't understand," the Sergeant explains. "I saw him being brought out myself."

"The creatures are gone too, sir," another Enforcer reports from behind Feral. "All we have in custody are a few of those… ninja kats."

"Gone?" Feral growls.

"It's like they vanished sir… without a trace," the Enforcer replies.

Feral frowns. "At least we got the girl out safe."

Soon Felicia arrives with some Enforcers to join her husband and daughter who sit in Feral's squad car in the back with the door open. "Alexandria! William!" she exclaims, overjoyed to see them, and rushes over to join them in a family hug. Feral explains to her and Manx both what happened inside as well as Dark Kat's body turning up missing, or 'vanished' as his Enforcer had said.

"Lt. Commander, who was that kat?" Felicia asks, holding onto her daughter tightly.

"And will he return?" William questions.

"I'm not for sure," Feral replies looking towards the empty body bag a ways off from them all. "However, the Enforcers will handle him."

A grey furred kat stands off from a distance in an alley, a red ruby ring on his finger slightly glows dim. He grins with a slight wince. "Come my creeplings. I will gain this city another day." He turns and uses a cane to slowly walk away, followed by a few pinkish looking imp creatures.

**End**


End file.
